Inmates’ Access to Data on Loan Forms Studied

The Federal Correctional Institution here is investigating whether inmates misused information from mortgage applications that they processed under a contract from the federal government, a published report said Sunday.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has stopped sending the mortgage applications to the prison pending the outcome of the investigation, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

HUD has a contract with the prison for inmates to type information into a computer from mortgage applications that people across the country submitted to the agency.

The applications contain a complete financial history of the applicants, including names, addresses, occupations, incomes, assets and employers. Some of the applications also contain bank account and credit card numbers, said inmate Beverly Hirsch, who is serving a 40-year sentence for bank fraud.

“Would you want convicted criminals to have your bank account numbers and accounts of your credit cards?” Hirsch asked.

Inmate Tells of Shock

Hirsch said she was shocked to find the information available to the inmates.

“I’d like to say I came to prison to learn a lesson, not get material to commit future crimes,” she said. “Inmates have no business with this information.”

Prison spokesman Mike Richer confirmed that an investigation was under way, and HUD officials said a review of a sample of 14,000 applications disclosed that about 200 contained credit card numbers.